Auction lot goes for £147k

A collection of treasures put together by a former Swan Hunter engineer beat its estimated value of £100,000 by almost half again when it was auctioned.

The Walton Temple Collection, with lots ranging from ceramics and glassware to books, boxes and objets d’art, attracted bids from all over the world when it went under the hammer at the Anderson & Garland Fine Arts and Antiques Sale in Newcastle, raising £147,375.

Anderson & Garland expert Julian Thomson said: “It was a very fine collection that people didn’t mind travelling for because of the huge breadth and quality of items accumulated over a lifetime.

“People came in droves to the saleroom and there was a lot of international interest with around half of the collection sold to people around the world bidding via the internet.”

The top-priced piece was a painting of Tynemouth by Ouseburn-born artist John Wilson Carmichael, which sold for £8,400 – well above the pre-sale estimate of £4,000-£6,000. The painting was one of a number of paintings by the highly-sought after artist that featured in the auction.